CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Bruce Broillet delivering his closing argument
San Diego, CA - A California state court jury returned a roughly $15.5 million verdict on Thursday in a wrongful death lawsuit accusing staff at a Hyatt hotel of failing to check on a comatose diabetic guest who missed her checkout time, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The San Diego County jury returned their verdict two days after hearing closing arguments in a trial that began on June 23. The family of decedent Cindy Gonzalez claims that had Hyatt staff followed their own policies in 2022, they would have found Gonzalez shortly after she failed to vacate her room as scheduled and could have gotten her medical care sooner.
Plaintiff attorney Bruce Broillet of Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP asked jurors to award more than $40 million for Gonzalez’s death, however Hyatt argued a hotel is not a medical facility and that they respected the privacy requested by Gonzales’s “do not disturb” sign while still complying with industry-standard practice to perform regular wellness checks.
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Throughout the trial Broillet argued that under Hyatt’s policies staff is required to immediately make contact with a guest who fails to check out of their room. He explained how a housekeeper briefly looked into Gonzalez's room after she failed to check out, but that due to her short stature couldn’t see her passed out between the beds.
Rather than send security to Gonzalez’s room, Broillet faulted Hyatt staff for simply extending her reservation for another day. Law enforcement didn’t locate Gonzalez until calling the hotel after her family filed a missing person report.
Broillet detailed how Gonzalez suffered from a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, and he insisted getting her to a hospital nearly 24 hours sooner would have almost certainly saved her life.
“It is the family’s hope and ours that all hotels will take notice and follow industry standards regarding guest wellness to avoid this ever happening to anybody else again,” Broillet told CVN after the trial.
Defense attorney Traci Owens of Burger Meyer & D’Angelo LLP argued that Gonzalez brought a dog with her to the hotel without registering it at the front desk, and that housekeeping staff are specifically trained to avoid entering rooms with unfamiliar animals.
CVN screenshot of defense attorney Traci Owens delivering her closing argument
She argued the housekeeper who looked into the room didn’t have to actually make contact with Gonzalez, since a room service delivery that took place less than 24 hours earlier counted as a welfare check and reset the daily clock.
Owens told jurors Hyatt should not be held responsible for a medical event that took place behind a closed door with a “do not disturb” sign activated and within 24-hours since the last contact with hotel staff.
Owens also stressed that in 2022 hotels still maintained active Covid precautions, and that staff had a policy of minimizing guest contact where possible.
Representatives for Hyatt did not respond to requests for comment from CVN.
Plaintiffs are also represented by the Ludd & Ludd law firm
The trial took place before Judge Kevin Enright.
The case is captioned Jose Ramirez, et al. v. Hyatt Corporation, et al., case number 37-2023-00056444-CU-PO-CTL in San Diego County Superior Court.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
